Filled and Refilled: Life in the Spirit

“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.”

The Jews were waiting for their kingdom to be restored and set up over all the Earth while still being dominated by the Roman Empire.

Jesus had ascended. The disciples are waiting and praying that what he promised was true, that he will send his Spirit to help, empower and defend them against the evil one.

Associated with Shavuot in the OT (see Leviticus 23) in late spring, included first fruits from the wheat harvest.

It is a harvest celebration commemorating God’s provision for and sustenance of His people. Shavuot shares two important characteristics with the holidays Pesach (Passover) and Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles)

Pentecost - means 50; or 50 days from Passover

Pentecost in the NT - God’s provision of the Holy Spirit to each of those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Jesus ascended into heaven, which was not a part of their plan; it was God’s plan.

“They were all together”

At Pentecost the believers of Jesus Christ gathered together in prayer, waiting for what their Lord had promised.

Jesus dissuaded them from believing that the kingdom of Israel would be restored.

What was next?

What would life look like now?

What should they do/not do?

Did they still need to circumcised?

If Jesus is now enthroned in heaven, are they to still listen to priests?

Should they care about the Sanhedrin and their judgments?

Luke doesn’t really bring up any of these kinds of questions.

Luke sticks to what was important for those who gather as the community of Christ.

What are the most important things we can learn from Luke’s Gospel in Acts 2?

Luke wrote as plainly about what happened on Pentecost that day. He wrote of “a sound” and saw “tongues of fire” on all who were gathered in the upper room.

What could the sound of violent wind indicate?

What does the fire indicate?

What does the activity of speak in many tongues (or languages) indicate?

JW - “And there appeared distinct tongues, as of fire”—That is, small flames of fire. Yet it might intimate God’s touching their tongues as it were (together with their hearts) with divine fire: his giving them such words as were active and penetrating, even as flaming fire.

The Baptism of Fire prophesied by John the Baptist to come with the Messiah.

Baptism purifies our hearts and lives by the very infilling presence of the Holy Spirit.

While the images of Wind and Fire, spoken of here, sometimes brings to mind that of pestilent wind of the drought and desert, they can also bring to mind a “breath of fresh air” when someone expresses themselves in purifying passions. In those instances, new arts or new scientific fields of discovery are brought to light breaking through the over-abundance of human mediocrity. It’s the sudden coming in a way that gets our attention and shakes us up so that we must respond to it.

JW – “And this family praising God together, with the tongues of all the world, was an earnest that the whole world should in due time praise God in their various tongues.”

God is the center of the action (of all history in fact)

God cleanses all creation by his Holy Spirit

Godly wisdom and counsel are absolutely necessary if they were going to discern how they would move forward together faithfully obeying the commands and instructions of Jesus Christ until that day comes.

Jesus was glorified to birth the eternal church by the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

God’s plan is to draw together the church from ALL NATIONS.

God empowers the church through the presence of his Holy Spirit to bear the fruit of holiness.

In the end, all creatures in heaven and on Earth will glorify God together, and all creation is restored.

Finishing the Story

While we don’t harness the Holy Spirit or devise our own naturalistic methods successful for growing in holiness. We can apply ourselves to the moral principles of God while waiting a praying for God to confirm our faith in following his commands by repenting and receiving forgiveness to receive the greatest gift that God has ever offered humanity, the Gift of God’s self.

How can we remain faithful to God when we continue to sin?

Does the Spirit bear witness to your spirit that you are a child of God?

Do you glorify (praise, prayer, worship and witness) God in all things?

Do you consciously depend on the Holy Spirit? Do I rely on him to live a pure life and for power?

Am I moved to be a witness to God and support that witness being made to the whole world?

If you answer these with honesty and find yourself lacking, today is a great day for you to ask God to forgive you for living in disobedience. And today, like any other day, God will forgive you and grant you his grace to fill you or refill you with his Holy Spirit. God knocks of the door of your heart and only waits for you to respond and be empowered into new life with God. As long as you are alive, it’s never too late.